Garter.



No. 860,487. l PATBNTED JULY 16, 1907.

\ E. F. KNOTHE.

GAMER.

APYLIOATION FILED MAY B. 1907.

' Egg/ UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

FRANK F. KNOTHE, OF RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO KNOTHE BROTHERS,A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

GARTER. l

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 190'?.

Application led May 9, 1907. Serial No. 372,826.

My invention relates to garters which are worn below the knee, and hasfor its object to provide a new and improved garter easily adjustable asto size and shape, and comfortable to the wearer. Also a garter whichhas improved ventilation and is easily applied and has other advantagesin construction and manufact'iire.

The garter may be made of leather or of woven fabric, and canbe buckledor otherwise secured around the leg.

The following is a description of my invention, reference being had tothe. accompanying drawing, in which Figure l shows the garter extended.Fig. 2 shows the garter as it is when in use.

Referring more particularly to the drawings A Af A2 are a plurality ofmembers making up the body or strap portion of the garter, the endportions being provided with suitable fastening devices, such, forinstance, a buckle B and a perforated tongue C. The several sections ofthe body are secured together by lacings D D, there being preferably atleast three holes in each of the opposing ends fr the lacing. Theselacings can be loosened or tightened so as to extend the garter asdesired. They also provide ventilation at the points at which theyoccur. The lower portion of the cord forming the lacing D is connectedto any suitable hose supporter, such, for instance; as a spring clasp E,by

which the stocking I" is engaged. l preferably, though not necessarily,have the ends of the cord at the bottom of the lacing and secure them tothe supporter as shown.

As above stated, the size of the garter can be variedv by simplylengthening the cord in the lacing. Moreover, as the garter is applied,the lacing D, by reason of the extra length, permits the garter toextend automatically, and when the supporter is pulled down by thestocking or in the act of securing it to the stocking, the gartertightens upon the leg. If any strain comes upon the band of the garter,the stocking, yielding somewhat, is drawn up thereby and the garteritself Will thereforeextend. The garter is not only ventilated directlybeneath-both of the lacings, but the portion which leads to thesupporter consisting of two strands, is ventilated and much cooler thanthe solid tab which heretofore has been used in connection with leathergarters. The body of the garter may be made of leather or woven fabric,and may be elastic or non elastic. The cords for the lacings may also beelastic or nonelastic. When leather is used for the body of the garter,l preferably use metallic eyelets G, to reinforce the leather and alsoto afford a smooth surface, so that the lacings D may more readily slipthrough the openings.

Heretofore the strap surrounding the leg when made of leather' hasalways been cut from one piece. This strap when of one piece has to becurved in form so as to set properly when in use. The cutting of thiscurved strap in one piece is a great disadvantage in manufacture, sinceit requires a large piece tf leather and results in a very considerablewaste. With my garter small pieces of leather can be used and there ispractically no waste at all. slant the oppcsing ends a. u, so that whenthegarter is in use the edges of these opposing ends will besubstantially parallel. This prevents any overlapping of the portions atthat point and also adds to the appearance of the garter when in use.

If desired, the lacing D/ may be omitted, the parts A A2 being thenformed from a single strip of leather, still leaving a plurality o fparts in which case the adjustability in the body of the garter is allsecured at the lacing D. lf the lacing D/ is retained the garter can beadjusted for length at that point, and some of the advantages of myinvention thereby retained, even though the lac'ing D is not used, andthe supporter is secured to the body in some other manner. The lacing Dsecuring the supporter is, however, ofY decided adsiderable distance inattaching the garter to the stocking without -ur'iduly contracting theleg, and by the slight expansion of the leg will be automatically raisedso as to hold the stocking taut, and the other advantages above referredto will also be secured.

What l claim is:

1. In a garter, the combination of a plurality of parts constituting, astrap portion adapted to surround the calf of the leg; of the wearer,said parts having' opposing ends, each of which is provided with aplurality of openings for a lacing, and a lacing passing through saidopenings and crossing the space between said ends a plurality of times,a supporter secured to the lower portion of said lacing and carriedthereby, and means for temporarily securing-the free ends of the strapportion together.

2. In a garter, the combination of a plurality of parts constituting astrap portion adapted to surround the calf of the leg of the wearer,said parts having opposing,r ends,

free ends of the strap portion together.

FRANK F. KNOTHE.

Witnesses MARUM A. VOGEL,

BEATRICE FRANKEL.

ln order to make the garter set better, l'

vantage, in that the supporter can be pulled down a con-

